1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protective eyewear and more particularly to a multiple threat eye protection system, which includes an easily removable lens that is transferable between multiple lens-retaining platforms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Eye protection systems have a plurality of applications. Eye protection systems may be employed as sports equipment, e.g., ski goggles, as protection for work activities, as protection for military applications or many other applications. Typical eye protection systems include a zero-power plano lens, which is employed for wind, dust and debris protection, whereas military eye protection systems typically require additional protection from threats such as high speed ballistics and ultra-violet light. While these lenses may be removed, they often require tools and the disassembly of multiple parts to do so. It would be advantageous to provide a lens, which is easily removable without the use of tools from one or more retaining platforms, such as a goggle or spectacle.
Eye protection can be provided on a plurality of different platforms. For example, goggles protect against dust and wind while spectacles are preferred for sunlight protection. Each of these platforms is constrained by different requirements and different physical attributes. For example, goggles tend to sit further from the face of a user than spectacles. Additional differences between these platforms include the pantoscopic tilt angle of the lens relative to the face of the user and the overall size of the lens to provide proper coverage of the user's eyes.
The production of military eyewear tends to be material and time intensive. In particular, lens designs which include protection from multiple threats typically undergo many processing steps, which affect their yield and therefore cost. It would be advantageous to provide a lens system, which is interchangeable between different lens retaining platforms, which addresses the difficulties in employing the same lens for multiple platforms. Such a lens system would reduce cost by permitting a single lens to be employed on several platforms.
Lenses for military applications typically include coatings or layers formed thereon. Despite providing ballistic protection, these lenses cannot in many cases provide adequate scratch resistance, and light protection layers are vulnerable to scratches and, if scratched, may compromise their light protection effectiveness. For example, where laser or other light protection is provided, scratches in the protective coating could render the lens useless for light protection applications. The lens must therefore be replaced. It would be advantageous to improve scratch resistance of the lenses, which are designed to protect against light threats, e.g., laser light.
Therefore a need exists for lens retaining platforms, which provide an easy and quick release mechanism for removing a lens and accommodate lenses of different thicknesses and which can be interchanged between the platforms. A further need exists for a lens system, which protects against multiple threats and provides a structure, which protects optical technologies from scratch or other damage.